Wood Shop

Proposal to Revise Standing Rules

I would like to request a general member vote on the following proposed change to the standing rules. The reasons for the proposed changes were described in detail in a post to the member's mailing list on January 15.

That the current Section 8 entitled "Revocation", be replaced with a new Section 8 entitled "Suspension", as follows:
Section 8. Suspension
"Suspension" refers to suspension of a person's membership.
A person whose membership is in suspension does not pay dues and shall have no members-only rights or privileges.
Grounds for suspension:
The member refuses to behave safely or repeatedly fails to store property safely
The member repeatedly fails to clean up after themselves or their guests or abandons property more than twice in a 30 day period
The member is a disruption about whom multiple members have complained
The member shares access credentials with a non-member beyond the limits described in 7.2
The member has engaged in other conduct which is, in the judgement of the Board of Directors, materially and seriously harmful to the interests or purposes of i3 Detroit
A suspension shall be decided by majority vote of the Board of Directors and shall follow all applicable procedures in Article 3, Section 10: Termination of Membership, in the Bylaws.
When suspending a membership, the Board of Directors shall specify one or more conditions under which the suspension will be lifted, such as after a certain duration or by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. A person whose suspension has been lifted is welcome to resume membership.

The proposal passed by majority. Many in favor, none opposed.

Changes include

Renaming "Revocation" as "Suspension"

Makes direct reference to the part of the Bylaws that pertain to revocation

Changes unanimous vote to majority vote

Current approach for discipline is either a scolding, or on the other extreme, the "nuclear option" of banning

"Suspension" conveys the temporary nature of the action

Naming carefully selected by reference to several dictionary sources

Revocation has never happened before

Current policy has not done anything yet, but prolong matters and frustrate the board

Allowed destructive behavior to continue while the board was helpless to do anything about it

Banning has happened with the same unanimous requirement, but it is a more extreme punishment